Getting ready to rumble!
Around 240 competitors from around 15
countries, including host nation Malta, are
congregating in the quaint entertainment area
of St Julians, ready for senior bowlers'
favorite international event, the annual Malta
Senior Open at the super-friendly Eden
SuperBowl.
 Defending
champions Torbjorn Halling from Sweden and
Holland's delightful Farida Pascoal-Blom
(pictured) are now in Malta, itching to get
back into the fray, Pascoal-Blom looking for
her fourth Senior title. She can also boast of
winning the prestigious Malta Open, way back
in 1997.
The three valiant Maltesers, SuperBowl
General manager Neil Dent, assistant Mike Gatt
and the charming Charmaine Aquilina are ready,
willing and able to get the tournament
underway on Wednesday morning, following a
quick opening ceremony at what must seem to
many as being the veritable 'crack of dawn'.
Bowlers will roll two blocks of six
qualifying games before the men cut to 72, the
women to 36. Further blocks of four games
through to Sunday morning will lead to the
matchplay round of eight men and women and the
stepladder final.
As usual, this enjoyable event winds up
with a presentation party at the de luxe Malta
InterContinental Hotel on Sunday evening, with
dancing and prancing until the wee small
hours.
One item of interest - the 'A' card in the
bathroom at the InterContinental is an
advertisement for the Eden SuperBowl. You
don't see anything like that elsewhere.
The dy namic
duo of Neil Dent and Eden Leisure's Edward Fenech (pictured) dutifully performed the
opening ceremony Wednesday morning, both
expressing their pleasure at such a high entry
and wishing all competitors a warm welcome,
promising them a great bowling center
environment and a pleasurable visit to this
island jewel of the Mediterranean.
"I'm amazed at the enthusiasm for this event
by such a wide-ranging age group," said Fenech.
"This year we have the youngest at 50 and the
most senior in the middle 80s, which is
wonderful. We are sincerely very pleased to
welcome the group to Malta."
 Dent
fell just one pin short of the opening
ceremony record by scoring nine, leaving the
7-pin alone on the deck after the first ball.
"I was just pleased to see the ball going down
the middle of the lane," he commented.
The first squad hot the pocket promptly at
9:30am, featuring 34 Swedes and a lone
Englishman, Michael Begley from Torquay. Three
more squads take to the lanes today.
For further information, contact Keith Hale:
keithhale679@aol.com
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